A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State, has ordered the remand of a 21-year old carpenter, Anthony Alabi, at the Olokuta Correctional Centre over the alleged m*rder of a 58-year-old woman, one Veronica Olaseni.
Alabi was arraigned by the police on a two-count charge bordering on murder and theft.
He also admitted to having intercourse with the corpse.
“I didn’t want her body to waste, so I had intercourse with her corpse,” the defendant told the court.
The court did not take the defendant’s plea as it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The presiding Magistrate, Temitope Adurota, consequently ordered his remand at the Olokuta Correctional Centre, Akure, pending the issuance of advice from the office of the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Inspector Folashade Adebayo, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on March 2, 2026, at about 2:30 p.m. at Iboropa-Akoko in Akoko North-East Local Government area of the state.
Adebayo said the defendant strangled one Veronica Olaseni to d3ath on her farm after she identified him while he was attempting to steal her belongings.
According to the prosecutor, the defendant also stole items including an Infinix phone valued at N150,000, a cutlass valued at N10,000, and an Access Bank ATM card belonging to the deceased.
The charge reads in part, “That you, Alabi Anthony, on March 2, 2026, at Iboropa-Akoko did seize the breath of one Veronica Olaseni, 58, by holding her neck tightly, which resulted in her d3ath, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code Law of Ondo State, 2006.
“That you, Alabi Anthony, at the same place and date, did steal one Infinix phone valued at N150,000, a cutlass valued at N10,000, and one Access Bank ATM card, property of Veronica Olaseni, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 390 of the Criminal Code, Cap. Laws of Ondo State, 2006.”
The prosecutor urged the court to remand the defendant pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The defendant, who was not represented by counsel, confessed to the crime, stating that he went to the deceased’s farm to steal cashew nuts but strangled her after she recognised him.
The magistrate ordered that the case file be forwarded to the office of the DPP for advice and adjourned the case to June 6 for mention.
